The
Spirit of God is moving. Gently, but powerfully, He is warming hearts
of people everywhere. This is in anticipation of the fulfillment of
Prophetic Words like: Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him:
all nations shall serve Him (Ps 72:11). While Muslims make bold strides toward taking nations
for Allah, many of Christs followers are taken up with their own
pleasure, seeking God mostly that their own needs might be met. But,
this attitude in prayer is changing. More and more believers find themselves
drawn toward a kind of supplication that embraces whole nations. Gods
Spirit is seeing to this. His movements are more powerful than the swordindeed!

For
years Ive waited to explore, with the Holy Spirits help,
some Scriptures that reveal His work. I would like for us to begin this
search together. I want all God wants me to understand about His Spirit
to take lodging in my spiritand in yours. It will generate in
us new dimensions of strength, wisdom and vision. It will make us more
useful in Gods Kingdom.

Some
of what we expect to publish in this and coming articles will be a rediscovery
of things we already understandat least in a measureregarding
the Holy Spirits work. But much of what we see will most probably
be new to us.

Our
outline will be simple. First, we will explore what we can find about
the Holy Spirit · as He worked with God in
the acts of creation and early dealings with mankind. Then we hope to
see · how He worked with Moses,
particularly as he guided the children of Israel in the wilderness to
prepare a dwelling place for God. That we be builded together
for an habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph 2:22) may be the Holy Spirits most urgent work in
Christs Body today.

After
we spend time with Moses, we should gain glimpses of the Spirit · at work in the heart of David. There
is much, particularly in his Psalms, that reaches toward the Anointed
One for Whom his spirit longed. David was a man in Covenant
with God, one through whose Seed the promised Seed of Woman
and the Seed of Abraham would come. The prophetic Word in
this articles first paragraph is from David. It is an indication
of the deep longing of his heart.

Also,
we should not neglect to see how  the Holy Spirit worked with Abraham, also a man in Covenant with God. Both he and David are
important in our knowing the Covenants that reached on over to the Lord
Jesus. Both of these Covenants were made sure by His death and resurrection.

The
Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants are in the foundation of the Great Commission
Christ gave His disciples before He ascended back into the heavens.
(We will look at this in time Matt 28:18-20.) An understanding in the
Covenants will aid us in participating with the Holy Spirit in His present
movements, and in making disciples of the nations.

Continuing
with the Holy Spirit, we should see  how He worked with the Prophets,
particularly as they told of their awaited Messiah and the extent of
His rule. The Prophets words were precise and powerful, even if
sometimes mystical. Many of them reach through the ages to lay hold
on us, to go on with us through the end of the age.

Then
we want to see · what the Lord Jesus told
about that Holy Spirit of promise, as Paul called
to Him (Eph 1:13). Jesus promised He would come to the disciples
after He had returned to His Father in heaven. That promised Spirit
would keep the disciples from being like orphans. The
promise came in great measure at Pentecost, but not in
its fullness. There is this we should know however: when He came then,
He came to remain. Knowing what Jesus taught His disciples
about the promised Comforter Who would abide with them
forever is vital for us today.

After
bathing our hearts in what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, we will
look to see  what Paul had to say about Him. Paul is the
one who revealed the most about Who the Holy Spirit is and how He will
work in the lives of believers.

Our
pursuit of understanding should be slow and gentle. We want to go as
deeply as the Holy Spirit will allow us. What matter how long the lessons
take? We are moving with Gods Spirit toward eternity. There is
this for certain: the unfolding of the truth were investigating
will require of us that we grow in our spirits as understanding takes
hold in our minds and hearts.

Please
keep in mind we are looking to see what we can of the Holy Spirit at
work. We are not approaching this to build a doctrine of
the Holy Spirit, or to support one. We simply want to see Who He was
with our Heavenly Father, how He has worked through the ages, and how
He will continue His work as He moves with us on into the age to come.

What
we hope to gain is a better understanding of what He wants to do in
usand through us. And, we want to learn to live in unbroken com­munion
with Him.

Having
acknowledged this, let us go to the beginning of what the Lord God deemed
in His wisdom to reveal about His Spirit. This means we are going to
the first chapter of Genesis, the Book of Beginnings.

As
soon as we begin our exploration in Genesis, we meet His Spirit. In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was
without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED upon the face of the waters Gen
1:1,2.

Some
understanding has come to me that causes me not to be alarmed when I
read reports of scholars in anthropology and geology who seem to contradict
this Genesis account of creation. Nor have I been disturbed when I have
visited great muse­ums of natural history to find displays put there
by clever persons to prove man evolved from lower forms. While I do
not subscribe to all they have put before the public, I have never been
disturbedfor two particular reasons. One is that I believe
the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. I have chosen to take this stance
and it has brought me light, life and peace. Two, I believe the
Spirit of God was moving over the face of those waters because something
was there that He longed to bring back into the life and purpose of
Gods order on the earth. Buried in that dark abyss over which
the Spirit moved could well have been buried what scientists
today claim is their evidence that the world has been billions of years
in its formation. What does it matter? God is eternal.

Now
let us examine some of the words in the opening statement of Genesis. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the
earth was without form...(Gen 1:2). Theterm without form is from the Hebrew tohu, a word meaning empty, desolate, like a wilderness.
In Isaiah 45:18 is another statement about God creating the earth that would seem to
contradict the above Word from Genesis. See it: ... God Himself
formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it NOT
in vain. This term in vain is also from the Hebrew tohu. Let us apply the meaning desolate in both passages.
From Gen 1:2 we would have the earth was desolate. From Isa 45:18 we
would haveHe created it not desolate.

The
word wastakes our interest here. It is from the Hebrew, hahyah, which means to be or to become.
It has several interpreta­tions throughout the Hebrew Old Testament.

When
we see this, we may well interpret the Genesis passage to read, the
earth became without form. We are not told here what caused
the earth to become desolate and empty. We are told just that it became
that wayafter an undisclosed period of time.

Something
had happened to Gods perfectly created earth. Thus, we begin understanding
why the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Could
it not be that He was hesi­tant to leave the place that once had meaning
and form?

It
seems there was an expanse of timeborrowed from eternitybetween
the creation of the earth and the condition in which we find it in Gen
1:2. Perhaps we will know how long the expanse of time was when
geologists are finally through telling us how many billions of years
they are tracing in their discovery of our beginnings. Whatever the
exact explanation for this passage may be, what is impor­tant is that
we see the Holy Spirit moving here.

Please
allow me a little space regarding the word wasbefore we come back to the
matter of the Holy Spirits movement upon the waters. The Hebrew
word hahyah (was) seems to be the root upon
which the Name of the Lord God is founded. The Israelites considered
His Name so holy that it was for them unutterable except by the high
priest on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In early writings
they designated God, their Lord, by four Hebrew consonants, called the
tetragramaton. As in all ancient Hebrew writings, there were
only consonants with no added vowels to indicate sound. Pronunciation
was passed verbally from one generation to another. Those four consonants
representing Gods Name might be brought into our language as JHWH,
an unpronounceable combination of consonants. Some have supposed
to put in vowel sounds to make it Jehovah; others, Jaweh.
Early Jewish scholars and scribes often replaced that Name, too
holy to be pronounced, with the Hebrew word Adonai, which
means My Lord. David loved this designation for Him and made
significant use of it.

If
we were to try to translate the holy Name designated by the four letters,
we might find it means, The One Who is, Who always has been, Who
always will be, and Who causes others, or other things, to come into
being.

The
word God to which we are introduced in Gen 1:1 is an amazing word also. It is a plural word in the Hebrew. We see it
as Elohim, from the singular form elohe, which means a god.
Often, and it is the case here, in the Hebrew language a word in its
plural form has reference to its fullness. Thus we can see that in the
beginning, God, in all His fullness, began the works of creation.

God
did not work alone in creation. His Spirit was active in the
process. We also have this statement from Paul that His dear Son
also was an Agent thereif not the primary Agent. For
by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions,
or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for
Him (Col 1:16).

We are gaining some understanding as to whythe Spirit of God stayed close to the darkness
that was upon the face of the deep. The earth had fallen
from what God created. His Spirit was not willing to leave it.

These
are wonderful words: And the Spirit of God MOVED upon the face
of the waters.

The
word translated MOVED comes from a root meaning to
keep the wings loose, so that they touch and yet do not touch.
An early Ethiopian Bible has this word moved translated
from the Hebrew into an Ethiopian word meaning overshadowed.

John
Milton, a poet
of 17th century England, spoke of the Spirits action like a bird
when he said, Dove-like he sat, brooding on the vast abyss.
Like the brooding mother hen who will not leave the eggs under her
because in­stinct tells her there is life in them. So, the Spirit was
brooding over the face of the waters, overshadowing
them, keeping them warm in anticipation of a new birth for the earth.

This
points us to the intriguing majesty of what the angel Gabriel announced
to Mary when He said, The Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall OVERSHADOW
thee: therefore also That Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall
be called the Son of God(Luke
1:35).

The
same Spirit Who MOVED upon the face of the waters OVERSHADOWED
the Virgin, brooding over her, bringing life into her from out of
the heavens.

There
is another reference to which we are drawn. And Jesus, when He was
baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens
were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending LIKE A
DOVE, and lighting upon him (Matt 3:16).

The
same Spirit Who moved over the deso­lation of the earths
waters and Who overshadowed the Virgin descended like a dove
upon Jesus, brooding, warming, bringing Life to Him from out of
eternity.

There
were four divine Agents at work in the dawn of creation. They were participants
together in the bringingin of earths new order. We know these Four today.

·FIRST in the beginning we see GOD. Without faith
it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God mustbelieve
that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him
(Heb 11:6). God,
ourHeavenly Father, Who came from
out of eter­nity, Who has worked from the beginning of time with His
creations, finds delight in the least one of us who will come to Him
today.


SECONDWe see THE SPIRIT OF GOD as He moved, brooding
over those dark waters because He knew there was life there that was
to overcome the chaos. Jesus, Who has been eternal with the Father,
promised, I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another
Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever (John 14:16). This is that same
Spirit.

 THIRDImmediately after we read of
the movement of Gods Spirit, we see: And God said... in
Gen 1:3. Thus, we learn that His WORD becomes super-powerful when it joins
the moving of His Spirit. God...hath in due times manifested His
Word (Titus 1:3).

·FOURTHWe learn from Paul
the Lord Jesus Christ was a powerful Agent in creation. For by Him
were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities,
or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him (Col 1:16).

Now,
we can see another agent at work with the above Four.

·FIFTHGod gave Him, Christ Jesus, to be the
Head over all things to (in behalf of) the Church, Which is HIS
BODY,the fullness of Him... (Eph 1:22,23). This
is just the beginning.